I know this subject has been addressed before but I am still unsure whether to Measure vegs before or after cooking.
I asked my coach and she said that I should measure themas to how I am going to eat them ie; If I am eating raw zucchini then measure 2 cups raw and eat it that way. If I am eating cooked zucchini the measure 2 cups of cooked zucchini and eat it that way!! This makes no sense to me at all but that is what I was told...help?
Thank you!

You measure it before you cook it, if you measure after its cooked you would be eating close to 4 cups of veggies at that time.

I know! That's what I said to her, and she was unfazed. LOL. Yikes. So, would you say that if a vegetable is cooked it shrinks by half? If I keep pre cooked vegs in the fridge for future use, would you say that I should just eat one half the amount called for? Seems reasonable enough to me but I just want to make sure...thanks!

NO matter what veggie I eat I measure out 2 cups...then eat it raw or cook it like that I know I am eating my 2 cups.

Does a potato or ear or corn or cup of peas or green beans shrink by half - NO and neither do a lot of others.

I verified this with the M.D. that runs my clinic and he adamantly stated that both veggies and meet are to be weighed after they have been cooked. He went into a pretty long discussion as to why.

That is what I have been doing since day one and have lost 22 lbs in 7 weeks...so I guess I feel like it is working for me.

It sounds like there is a divide amongst the coaches on this. Given that mine lost 100 pounds on the diet, I am inclined to follow that lead!!!

@QuilterInVA; NO, an ear of corn, nor a potato, nor beans shrink when cooked, I know this, yet I also know that they are not part of the IP Phase I plan so that is not the issue. However, many of the allowed Phase I vegs do in fact shrink by more than half when cooked such as zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, summer squash etc. But thanks for your imput.

The reason that I asked this very simple question was that I'd like to pre- cook a large volume of vegetables to keep on hand for the work week. So if I cook 6 cups of raw zucchini, put it in the fridge, how much do you believe I should remove and pack for lunch the next day? Still not sure what the answer is.

Weigh the drained vegetables and divide by 3.

This I Wonder about as well,

I steamed 4 cups of spinach which shrinks down to about 1 1/2 cups - that doesnt seem like much - but it was still 4 cups - Thats an easy way to get my greens in if thats the case!?? i was going to ask my coach on friday

I think it was Linden who posted this for us a while back.

http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/us_cups_to_weight.htm